Phytonematode Community Structure and Dynamics on Ornamental Plantations of Egypt

Abstract

In a survey study, 21 phytonematode genera, Aphelenchoides, Criconemoides, Brachydorus, Criconema, Ditylenchus, Helicotylenchus, Hemicriconemoides, Hemicycliophora, Heterodera, Hoplolaimus, Longidorus, Meloidogyne, Paratylenchus, Pratylenchus, Rotylenchulus, Scutellonema, Tetylenchus, Tylenchorhyncus, Tylenchulus, Tylenchus and Xiphinema were found infesting rhizosphere of ornamental plantations in 5 Egyptian governorates. As the soil lighten, the nematode genera thrive, populate and diverse. Helicotylenchus, Hoplolaimus and Paratylenchus were recorded in high abundance and density in peat samples. The surveyed perennials were poor in their infestation. Helicotylenchus, Rotylenchulus, Tylenchorhynchus and Tetylenchus were in common association with the ornamental trees (Italian cypress, Ficus and Flamboyant). Nematode genera abundance and density were variable in shrubs. Paspalum samples infested with 15 out of the recorded 21 genera. Dynamics of Criconemoides, Helicotylenchus, Hoplolaimus and Rotylenchulus on four shrubs (Schefflera, Windoleaf, Dodonea, Lantana) grow in clay loam soil indicate that nematodes achieved high and low seasonal patterns depending on soil temperature, host plant, nematode species and nature of nematode parasitism.